Power Rankings: Players from each team who thrill us with their skills

The NHL All-Star Game is this weekend, which means that the NHL All-Star Skills Competition is on Saturday night. We'll marvel at the fastest skaters, hardest shots and how many players can pass the puck into those dopey little mini-nets.

But those aren't the only skills that deserve lauding in the NHL. In this edition of the Power Rankings, we honor some of the player skills that leave us in awe.

How we rank: We use a panel of voters, and these rankings reflect which teams voters think would win head-to-head matchups. Higher-ranked teams are favored over lower-ranked teams. A run of wins doesn't guarantee a jump, and a couple of losses don't guarantee a fall.

Marc-Andre Fleury's attitude. Not every skill requires a stick and a puck. Fleury showed a remarkable comportment when dealing with the Matt Murray situation in Pittsburgh and his subsequent acquisition by an expansion team, which immediately made Fleury the face of the franchise. Disposition matters during an 82-game season, and there's a reason why Fleury is a beloved teammate.

Steven Stamkos' shot. When he was 9 years old, Stamkos would attend "shooting school" on synthetic ice, and fire around 500 pucks each time. Practice has apparently made perfect, as he has 18 goals this season and 339 in his career.

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Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan discuss the death of Jim Johannson and some surprise teams that could make a Stanley Cup run. Plus, some expansion talk now that Emily has returned from Seattle, as well as interviews with Lightning head coach Jon Cooper and Islanders rookie Mathew Barzal. And finally, some Oscar snubs and another edition of the ESPN On Ice rant line. Listen »

Alex Ovechkin's spot on the ice. Imagine being as good at anything in life as Ovechkin is when he one-times the puck from the left circle. As St. Louis Blues goalie Carter Huttonsaid: "I don't think it's physically possible, when he picks his spot, to be able to save it."

Pekka Rinne's glove hand. His catching ability was honed through years of playing Pesapallo, which is Finland's version of baseball -- if baseball featured the pitcher standing a foot away from the hitter and tossing the ball straight up in the air so the hitter can wallop it. Yeah, it's weird.

John Klingberg's vision. Even when he was an overlooked prospect, taken No. 131 overall in the 2010 draft, the way he saw the ice was considered an asset. Now it's one of the reasons Klingberg could win his first Norris this season.

Auston Matthews' hands. The correct answer is "Auston Matthews' everything," but let's just limit this to his silky mitts and the ability of a guy with his frame to put the puck on a string for highlight-reel goals and assists. The Modern-Day Mario comparisons aren't off.

Joe Pavelski's hockey IQ. The captain's puck brain has been a point of praise throughout his career in San Jose. "It's really the 6 inches between his ears that add to his natural skill level," Mike Eaves, who coached Pavelski at Wisconsin, told the Sharks' website in 2016.

Nathan MacKinnon, skating with the puck. He's not the best in the league, as we'll see down the rankings, but one of those players who is fast and then looks even faster with how he's able to handle the puck at such a high velocity.

Jaromir Jagr's lower body. Look, I realize this is almost a cheat, given that Jag is hurt and barely a Flame at this juncture. Speaking of junk: Jagr's trunk is one of the truly incredible artifacts in professional sports. His lower body is like Planet Czech, with its own gravity field.

Phil Kessel is a Stanley Cup champ. What he's not, inexplicably, is a 2018 NHL All-Star. This year's team is long on star power (Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury) but short some deserving scorers, including Vladimir Tarasenko and Jonathan Marchessault.

Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, the top picks of the 2015 draft and faces of beleaguered franchises, are having a tough go of things this season. We peered into our crystal ball and imagined where each star will be -- and what he'll have won -- by 2028.

Jonathan Quick's flexibility. Look, I'm not exactly what you'd call a limber gentleman -- my yoga sessions have been referred to as "nice attempts" -- so I'm in awe of Quick's ability to fold himself in half to make saves along the ice at times.

Corey Perry's devious nature. Look, I know we're supposed to loathe the sneaky, underhanded and sometimes injurious stuff that Perry's so good at administering (usually against other California teams). But I'd like to take a moment and appreciate it, insofar that he'd totally be a member of the Cobra Kai were this "The Karate Kid."

Duncan Keith's patience. I've always admired the cerebral way that Keith handles himself, from knowing when to pinch to playing smart positional defense. To play more than 25 minutes a night and have 16 penalty minutes in 80 games last season is something.

Andreas Athanasiou's speed. Few players in the NHL can match the skating swiftness of Athanasiou, who puts the wings in Red Wings. Now, if he can only learn to finish more of those chances he creates ...

Shea Weber's shot. He has become a maligned player for various reasons -- his contract, the player for whom he was traded -- but there's no denying that howitzer, which can do everything from score goals to damage both opponents and teammates.

Connor McDavid's skating with the puck. With due respect to MacKinnon, McDavid has changed the game for what a player can do with the puck when skating at full speed. It's a shame we won't see it in the playoffs this year.

Max Domi's stickhandling. As David Burstyn, director of scouting for McKeen's Hockey, said when Domi was drafted: "He just manufactures offence and he can make the puck talk. He can stickhandle in the rain without getting the puck wet."

Robin Lehner's psyche. Who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory about the National Hockey League trying to sabotage the season for one of its teams through insidious replay calls, because all it wants to do is punish a billionaire owner it approved and a market that can drive national ratings?